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Researchers at University of Galway have secured five major grant awards totalling almost €6 million to advance scientific and medical breakthroughs. The awards have been made under Science Foundation Ireland’s Frontiers for the Future programme, focusing on protein-based treatments; wind turbine technology; methane recovery; air quality; and diabetes. The projects are: Professor Alan Ryder – Awarded €1.23 million Downstream Protein Analysis - Polarized Emission Spectroscopy (Dpa-Pes) Making protein-based treatments like vaccines, antibodies and insulin - safely and in large volumes - poses many challenges, one of which is accurately measuring protein size, purity and stability during manufacturing. Proteins are inherently sensitive and are easily damaged, reducing their therapeutic effectiveness and the biggest issues are when protein shape or size changes. Professor Ryder’s research will develop fast, inexpensive, non-destructive and non-contact, light-based techniques for measuring proteins during manufacturing. This novel Dpa-PES measurement methodology exploits aspects of chemistry, physics, mathematics, and optics to better measure protein quality via their interaction with polarised light, ultimately leading to better quality medicines. Professor Sean Leen – Awarded €1.3 million Tailored Manufacturing For Safe, Sustainable Offshore Wind Turbine Support Structure Materials (Transforrm) This project proposes to use a combination of laboratory testing and computer modelling to improve manufacturing processes for high temperature rolling and welding of steels for more sustainable, safe, design of support structures for larger offshore wind turbines. Computer models will be developed to determine the effect of the rolling and welding processes on through-thickness non-uniformity of mechanical properties, especially cracking due to fatigue. The models will be verified by experimental testing. Digital tools will be developed using these models and applied to design case studies for fixed and floating offshore wind turbine structures, to demonstrate the sustainability benefits Guangxue Wu – Awarded €911,903; and co-funded by SFI and the Sustainable Energy Association of Ireland (SEAI) Alleviation Mechanisms And Microbial Interactions Induced By Conductive Materials In Sulphate-Stressed Anaerobic Digestion Ecosystems Methane recovery from waste reduces the dependence on fossil fuel energy, fulfilling UN Sustainable Development Goals. In this project - by combining advanced techniques from microbiology, engineering, and chemistry - underlying microbial mechanisms and interactions for methane production will be investigated with the dosage of conductive materials for alleviating sulphate inhibition. The outputs will provide knowledge for developing novel methane recovery biotechnologies from waste to protect ecosystem and conserve natural resources. Jurgita Ovadnevaite - Awarded €1.2 million Fingerprinting Climate Change And Air Pollutant Culprits (Epic-Air) Atmospheric aerosol particles contribute to more than 8 million premature deaths per year around the world due to their important role in climate change and air quality. It is crucial to understand the sources of these particles, as well as to assess their impacts on human health and climate. This project will deploy a sophisticated online instrumentation and develop new methods to allow the concurrent assessment of particle health and climate impacts. The project will use models to evaluate how toxic particles affect climate change and how climate change impacts the properties of the particles. Cynthia Coleman and Pilib Ó Broin - Awarded €1.3 million Midios: Microrna In Diabetic Osteopathy Type 2 diabetes can lead to unusual changes in bones, where higher bone density surprisingly results in more fractures. These fractures heal slowly, limit mobility, and extend hospital stays. The Midios team is working on a new therapy to address bone issues caused by type 2 diabetes. This collaborative project involves experts from various fields, including cell and molecular biology, biomedical engineering, computational biology, and clinical medicine. They will study adult stem cells in the bone to understand the changes diabetes causes and how these changes affect bone strength. The goal is to develop treatments that counteract the impact of diabetes on bones, ultimately improving the quality of life for people with type 2 diabetes. Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Patrick O’Donovan T.D., said: “These awards support the development of world-class research in areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The projects and higher education institutions are focusing on will help deliver solutions to some of the major challenges facing society, including in healthcare, the environment and technology.” Professor Jim Livesey, Vice-President Research and Innovation at University of Galway, said: “Each individual researcher is to be congratulated for having the excellence of their research recognised in this way. We are intensely proud of their achievement and look forward to the results of the research. Moreover, the University is delighted at this support from SFI for researchers in two of our key strategic areas. Galway is committing significant resources to work in biomedical science and to sustainability and these awards will amplify the scale and scope of those investments.”  Dr Ruth Freeman, Director, Science for Society at Science Foundation Ireland, said: “The SFI Frontiers for the Future awards provide opportunities for independent investigators to conduct highly innovative, original research on important questions. I would like to thank SEAI for collaborating on this programme with SFI, supporting vital research in the area of sustainability.” Ends

Scientists and theatre makers are joining forces to bring a new interactive comedy show - driven by hopepunk, climate research, music and what matters most to the local community - to rural Ireland. The first performance of We Built This City on Rock and Coal will take place at University of Galway on Thursday May 30th, with other shows scheduled for Galway, Cork, Donegal, Mayo and Antrim. The venues range from arts centres to ringforts and the project will visit three offshore islands: Inishbofin, Arranmore and Rathlin. By bringing shows to rural centres like Ionad Cois Locha, Interface Inagh, Wild Nephin National Park, and the Centre of Excellence for Climate Action and Sustainability in west Cork, the project aims to prompt discussion and change around environmental topics, while finding local positive steps towards solving climate change. Each live show will include sustainability workshops and citizen science activities, along with a space for audience members to speak up or be interviewed. These material from the audience will then be used to improvise scenes, songs and sketches, making each of the shows unique. We Built This City on Rock and Coal is co-created by Dr Jessamyn Fairfield, award winning science communicator and performer and lecturer at University of Galway’s School of Natural Sciences, and Katy Schutte, global improvisation practitioner and author. They will partner with Dr Gesche Kindermann, sustainability and conservation expert and lecturer with University of Galway School of Natural Sciences, and storyteller Órla McGovern, among others. Audience stories about climate change and climate action will also be collected and shared online as part of the Caomhnú citizen science initiative. Dr Jessamyn Fairfield said: “The whole idea of this project is reclaiming our agency when we talk about climate change. We worked with rural communities to develop this project, and we’re thrilled to be exploring climate action, citizen science and sustainability through a comedic lens with people up and down the coast of Ireland.” Katy Schutte said: “It's a great project where comedy gets to make the world a better place! The more we enjoy our local natural environment and the people in it, the more we care about the global climate crisis.” We Built This City on Rock and Coal is a recipient of the Creative Climate Action fund, an initiative from the Creative Ireland Programme. It is funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. The fund supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empower citizens to make meaningful behavioural transformations. The project is also supported by University of Galway and iCRAG, the SFI Research Centre in Applied Geosciences hosted at University College Dublin. More information including show dates and ticket links is available at http://webuiltthiscity.ie/  Ends

Chun 20 bliain den bpáirtnéireacht atá ar bun acu le hEalaín na Gaeltachta a cheiliúradh, tá ceochoirm mhór shean-nóis á reachtáil ag Ionad Léann na hÉireann in Ollscoil na Gaillimhe. In Amharclann Mick Lally, Dé Máirt 4 Meitheamh, 8-10pm a bheidh an ócáid ar siúl agus scoth na n-ealaíontóirí as Gaeltacht Chonamara ar stáitse.  Ina measc san a bheidh páirteach sa léiriú diamhair seo, beidh Bríd Ní Mhaoilchiaráin, Máire Ní Mhaoilchiaráin, Sarah Ghriallais, Máire Pheter Uí Dhroighneáin, Áine Ní Dhroighneáin, Róisín Ní Mhainín, Pádraic Ó hOibicín, Máirín Mhic Lochlainn, Mairéad Ní Fhlatharta, Treasa Ní Mhiolláin, Seosamh Ó Neachtain, Saileog Ní Cheannabháin, Gearóid Ó Dubháin, agus Micheál Ó Cuaig. Deir an Dr Méabh Ní Fhuartháin, Ceann an Ionaid: “Tá breis agus 20 bliain ann ó cuireadh an pháirtnéireacht idir Ionad Léann na hÉireann agus Ealaín na Gaeltachta ar bun chun ealaíon an tsean-nóis agus na healaíona dúchais béil i nGaeltacht Chonamara a chur chun cinn. Dar linn gur fiú an méid sin a cheiliúradh agus a chraobhscaoileadh le ceolchoirm mhór a thabharfaidh deis dúinn a bhfuil bainte amach againn ó cuireadh an pháirtnéireacht eadrainn ar bun a thaispeáint don bpobal. Beidh cuid de na healaíontóirí comhaimseartha is cumasaí dá bhfuil ag obair i nGaeltacht Chonamara ar an ardán in Amharclann Mick Lally, rud a fhágann gur showcase iontach don nGaeilge, don nGaeltacht, agus d’ealaíona an tsean-nóis a bheidh sa cheolchoirm neamhchoitianta seo.” Cosnaíonn na ticéid €10 agus tá an t-airgead uilig ag dul chuig Clann Shíomóin na Gaillimhe, agus tá siad ar fáil ag https://buytickets.at/theblackgateculturalcentre/1253133. Tuilleadh eolais ó irishstudies@universityofgalway.ie Críoch